Digital satellite broadcasting such as, for example, Sky PerfecTV (trademark) is being widespread. The digital satellite broadcasting can transmit a signal of higher quality as compared with existing analog broadcasting and realizes a large number of channels. In such digital satellite broadcasting, channels dedicated to sports, movies, music, news and the like are prepared. A music channel is one of popular channels among the dedicated channels.
When a viewer watches such a music channel, he/she may like a music piece being broadcasted and want to purchase a CD (Compact Disc) or the like containing the musical piece. In such a case, it is convenient that data on the music piece can be downloaded while watching the music channel. The applicant of the present invention has proposed a system capable of multiplexing music piece encoded by using the ATRAC (Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding) system with respect to main broadcasting signals (video signal and sound signal) of the music channel, distributing the resultant data, and charging the viewer who is purchasing (downloading) the ATRAC data, for example, in Japanese Patent Application No. 10-201731.
The ATRAC system is a compression coding system adopted in the case of recording audio data onto an MD (Mini Disc) (trademark).
In a system of distributing music piece data and charging the viewer who purchases it as described above, if purchase of a plurality of music piece data can be instructed in a lump and the plurality of music piece data can be downloaded in optimum order, efficiency with respect to time increases and music piece data of a larger amount can be downloaded within predetermined time. The conventional system has a problem that it does not have such a function.
In a pay-per-view carried out on a movie channel or the like in digital satellite broadcasting, purchasing (watching) a program from a midpoint of the program is not sufficiently worthy. Consequently, in the case where predetermined time is elapsed since the broadcasting start time of the program, purchase limitation time is set so that the program cannot be purchased.
In a system of distributing music piece and charging the viewer who is purchasing the data as described above, however, the purchase limitation time is not specified. There is consequently a problem such that a failure in downloading cannot be compensated.
Further, in a pay-per-view carried out on a movie channel or the like in digital satellite broadcasting, preview time (test-listening time) during which there is no charge for viewing is set. Consequently, the viewer can determine whether a program is worth viewing (purchasing) or not during the preview.
Such a system of distributing music piece data and charging the viewer who purchases it has, however, a problem that there is no regulation regarding test-listening of purchasable music piece data.
Furthermore, a receiving apparatus as a component of a system as described above has a problem that the apparatus cannot process the two kinds of music piece data simultaneously and independently of each other.
Further, in a system of distributing music piece data and charging the viewer who purchases it as described above, if purchase of plural music piece data can be instructed in a lump and the plural music piece data can be downloaded in an optimum order, efficiency with respect to time increases and music piece data of a larger amount can be downloaded within predetermined time. The conventional system has a problem that it does not have such a function.